The House of Mouse Loses Its Magical Special Privileges

The Florida state House and Senate sent a bill to Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk on Thursday to revoke The Walt Disney Company’s special privileges and autonomous governmental status.

Gov. DeSantis is expected to soon sign the bill into law.

For decades, under Florida law, Disney has been permitted to, in effect, act as its own government.

According to CNBC, “The district in question is the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was established in 1967. It was established by the Florida legislature so Disney could develop the infrastructure for Walt Disney World at no cost to Florida taxpayers.

“The arrangement has allowed Disney to build theme parks, hotels and other tourist experiences within the Reedy Creek district with little to no oversight.”

The Senate approved the bill (S0004) on April 20 in a nearly party-line 23-16 vote. The bill garnered the support of 23 Republicans and was opposed by all Senate Democrats and one Republican member.

On April 21, the Florida House of Representatives approved the legislation in a 70-38 vote along straight party lines.

Speaking to CNBC, Florida state Representative Randy Find said, “What changed is bringing California values to Florida. Floridians said, ‘You are a guest. Maybe you don’t deserve the special privileges anymore.’”

The bill comes as a response to the Walt Disney Company vocally opposing Florida’s newly enacted Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits schools from teaching young children (kindergarten through 3rd grade) about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Additionally, senior executives with The Walt Disney Company have been caught on company calls admitting to promoting “many, many LGBTQIA characters in [their] stories.”

Disney has also ended their cast member’s use of “ladies and gentlemen” and “boys and girls” with “dreams of all ages” to try and be more inclusive.

Whatever one may think about revoking Disney’s special privileges, perhaps the more important lesson here is that corporations can face consequences for going “woke.”

This bill proves that when companies become beholden to leftist activists, rather than their shareholders and customers, the people and their elected leaders can strike back at their corporate empire.

It can be hard for parents to keep up on what entertainment content is safe for their children or adolescents to watch. Check out Focus on the Family’s Plugged In to see family-centered reviews of the latest movies, television shows, music, games and more.